2021 Beauty Awards – Part 2 – Hair, Body & Nails

Hi there! Today’s post is Part 2 of my 2021 beauty favourites. Yesterday, I focused on fragrances and products for the face. And today is all about hair and body products and my favourite manis of the past year. Onto the favourites!

HAIR

Herbal Essences Silk N’ Shine Shampoo & Conditioner

Holy grail stuff!

Herbal Essences Moisture Balance Shampoo & Conditioner

More holy grail stuff!

Revisiting Old Favourites – L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo & Conditioner

Elvive Colour Protect is an all-time favourite combo. Great stuff!

Alberto Balsam Exotic Mango Shampoo & Conditioner

These mango-scented hair products are simply amazing!

Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Shampoo & Conditioner With Ginseng Extract

It’s a shame that the Harmony collection has been discontinued. This particular hair care combo was a delight.

Daily Defense Advanced Deep Conditioner With Argan Oil From Morocco

This deep conditioner is simply fantastic!

BODY

Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Smoothing All Over Body Cream With Acacia Collagen

This body cream with acacia collagen has been my favourite body moisturiser this year. I love it!

Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic, Sensual, Absolute Relax

If I could only use 10 different shower gels for the rest of my life, these 3 would be in my top 10!

Radox “Shell Yeah” Sea Mineral Scent Shower Gel, Radox “Donut Mind If I Do” Vanilla Bean & White Chocolate Scent Shower Gel

These Radox shower gels were one of the most delightful beauty surprises this year.

Sanctuary Spa Mestizo Acai Rain Shower
Westlab Himalayan Salt Cleansing Bath & Shower Gel

2 more totally fabulous shower gels!

Sanctuary Spa Foaming Bath Soak
Soap & Glory The Scrub Of Your Life
Palmolive My Fresh Splash Shower Gel

And the final 3 shower and bath favourites from this year.

NAILS

Marble Nails
Purple Nails
Blue & Red Nails

Some of my favourite manis from 2021. In no particular order!

Foil Nails
Gold & Magenta Nails
Lilac Nails

Here’s another 3 manis.

Marble Nails
Purple Nails
Red Nails

The last set of my favourite manis from 2021.

Thanks for stopping by today! And I hope you have a great start into the new year. Happy 2022! 😘🥂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – November 2021

Hi there! It’s the first day of a new month, so this means that today’s post is about last month’s beauty trash = November’s empties. I used a bunch of single use face masks, and you can read about my latest face mask finds if you click here. Now let’s look at the big bottles and tubs and…

1 Radox Blueberry Scent Bath Bomb (no photo) – this was a single-use bath bomb, hence no photo. I enjoyed this bath bomb, and I might buy it again.

2 Original Source Green Banana & Bamboo Milk Moisturising Shower Milk – this is a really nice shower gel! I’d buy it again, but unfortunately, it was discontinued.

3 Radox Muscle Relax Bath Salts With Peppermint Scent – I used them twice and didn’t care for them. My husband used most of these salts, but he also didn’t love them. I won’t buy these bath salts again.

4 Max Factor Pan Stik 12 True Beige – my all-time favourite foundation! I have a few more of these!

5 Superdrug Layering Lab Paradise Body Mist – I liked this one a lot, and I will buy it again.

6 Valjean Labs Restore Facial Serum – a decent serum. Not groundbreaking though. I won’t repurchase it.

7 Boots No7 Total Renewal Micro-Dermabrasion Exfoliator – this is a very nice product. I will buy it again, no doubt.

8 Patisserie De Bain Mango Sorbet Hand Cream – a decent hand cream. Repurchase-worthy.

9 Olay Regenerist Luminous Tone Perfecting Cream – this is the US version of the cream, and I didn’t like it as much as the UK version. This one isn’t very moisturising, unfortunately.

10 Palmolive Aroma Therapy Absolute Relax – an all-time holy grail shower gel. I have a few more of these.

11 L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Conditioner – a very nice conditioner! I have another shampoo and conditioner combo in my stash.

12 Westlab Dead Sea Salt Soothing Bath & Shower Gel – a nice shower gel. I can see myself buying it again.

November wasn’t a bad month for empties. I hope I can keep the streak going and finish the year with at least 12 more products (aiming for a few more, though…). Fingers crossed!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

October Beauty Awards

Hi there! It’s the last working day of the month, so today’s post is about all the products I loved the most in October. Let me start with the TOP 3, and there will be a few honourable mentions as well!

3rd place – L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo & Conditioner

This shampoo and conditioner combo is an all-time favourite.

Runner-Up – Esfolio Hyaluronic Acid With Peach Essence Mask Sheet
WINNER – Westlab Himalayan Salt Cleansing Bath & Shower Gel

I love this Esfolio face mask. It’s such a treasure! I’m so glad I have 10 of these!
Westlab knocked it out of the park with their Himalayan Salt shower gel. I love it! A sure beauty staple from now on!

Onto the honourable mentions! Original Source did a great job with their Green Banana & Bamboo Milk and Sweet Apple & Vanilla Milk shower gels as they are moisturising indeed! Skin Treats Star Glitter Moisturising Peel Off Face Mask was such a nice surprise – what a powerful peel-off mask!

2 more shout-outs to Skin Techniques Pomegranate Infused Sheet Mask and Farm Skin Green Tea Soothing Sheet Mask – both of these masks were awesome!

Have you tried any of these products? Would you like to try any of them? Which products have you been loving lately? Feel free to comment, and thanks for stopping by! x

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 18 – 24 October 2021

Hi there! Happy Sunday! Today’s post is about all the posts I’ve written this past week, and here they are!

Monday 18 Oct – Nail Of The Day
Tuesday 19 Oct – Sukin Rosehip Nourishing Cream Cleanser

Monday’s post was a Nail Of The Day post. Click here to read it.
On Tuesday I reviewed a facial cleanser. Click here to read the post.

Wednesday 20 Oct – Original Source Green Banana & Bamboo Milk Moisturising Shower Milk, Original Source Sweet Apple & Vanilla Milk Moisturising Shower Milk

Wednesday’s post was about 2 shower gels. Click here to read it.

Thursday 21 Oct – L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo & Conditioner

On Thursday I re-reviewed these L’Oréal hair products which I haven’t used in a long time. Click here to read the post.

No post on Friday. So this is already it for this week. Thanks for stopping by! x

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Revisiting Old Favourites – L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo & Conditioner

Hi there! Today’s post is about the hair care products I’m using at the moment – L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo & Conditioner. I’ve previously reviewed these products – years ago. But I haven’t used them in a while, so I thought it’s time to use them again.

L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo is lovely. It’s a creamy white shampoo that cleanses my hair gently. I love it! And the beautiful scent is an added bonus!

L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Conditioner detangles my hair with ease. It’s a great conditioner – one of L’Oréal’s best products, no doubt. I love that it makes my hair feel silky soft! 😍

I’m enjoying these 2 products so much! I can’t believe that I haven’t used them for such a long time! I’ll definitely buy them again soon! L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo & Conditioner are available in a bunch of sizes – 50ml, 250ml, 300ml, 400ml and 500ml. My guess is that the 300ml and 500ml are new sizes which are currently in the process of replacing the 250ml and 400ml bottles. As of now, the 400ml bottles (which mine are) are about £5 each. I paid £2.49 each (special offer at Tesco’s).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Haul – L’Oréal, Treacle Moon, Caolion, Imperial Leather, Garnier, Body-X & Superdrug!

Hi there! I haven’t done a haul post since the end of February, so let me show you what I bought since then! 🙂

L’Oréal Elvive Full Restore 5 Repairing Shampoo & Conditioner – I panicked when I saw a number of L’Oréal products marked as Reduced To Clear.

Treacle Moon The Honeycomb Secret Bath And Shower Gel – this was on special for £2.

L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo & Conditioner – guess what, these were Reduced To Clear too. What is going on?!

Treacle Moon That Vanilla Moment Bath & Shower Gel – I’ve had this before and I liked it a lot. My husband loved it, so this is actually more for him… this was on special for £2.

Superdrug’s Deep Action Deep Cleansing Charcoal Peel-Off face masks were on special – 2 for £1.48.

And there’s a new Superdrug collection = Calm Skin. I bought the Refreshing Facial Spritz and the Relaxing Overnight Mask. These were on a buy 1 get 2nd half price offer. So these 2 items were £4.47 in total.

I spotted these pretty looking Body-X shower gels at my local B&M Bargains store. Had a sniff. Liked them. Bought them. £1 each.

I also got myself a few more charcoal toothpastes. I bought 2 Superdrug charcoal toothpastes (£2.99 each, but buy 1 get 1 free) a few weeks ago. I really liked this toothpaste, so I bought 4 more (still BOGOF). I also picked up a cheap charcoal toothpaste (£1) at B&M Bargains.

I picked up Garnier‘s Ultimate Blends The Gloss Reviver shampoo and conditioner (£2 each, Poundworld) and an Imperial Leather Foamy Banana bath cream (95p, Tesco).

I managed to get my hands on 2 large 100g Caolion O2 Spakling Purifying Face Soaps. These were on sale at Cult Beauty. £10.50 each instead of £15 each. I’ve already had the small 25g soap – this one lasted me for almost four months. So I know these two large soaps will last me for 2 years!

This is what I bought since the end of February. Some of these items are quite bulky which means that I have storage problems again… What was I thinking?

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – May 2016

Hi there! Last month’s empties post was really fun, so I collected this month’s empty stuff too. Now here’s what I used up in May 2016.

1 (no photo) 3 Superdrug Dead Sea Purifying Clay Masks & 3 Superdrug Fruit Sorbet Antioxidant Peel-Off Masks – I really love these face masks and I’ll repurchase them again. Sorry, there’s no photo but I didn’t want to keep the empty (and sticky) sachets.

2 Herbal Essences Shimmering Colour Conditioner – this stuff is amazing! I rejoiced when Herbal Essences reintroduced two of their Rainforest Flowers shampoo and conditioner combos in 2013. Unfortunately these products were discontinued again. 😦 I don’t know why – the products are excellent! I have a few more back-up bottles and I’ll do a proper review soon. 🙂 In the meantime, check out my post about the Herbal Essences Classics products – if you’ve never tried them, you really should do it now because they’re the best shampoos and conditioners out there!

3 Classics Nail Polish Remover – I’ve been buying this nail polish remover for years. It’s effective. It doesn’t dry out my nails. It’s cheap (£1 for 400ml). It’s simply great! And this product is made by a UK-based company and it’s not tested on animals. Repurchase? Absolutely!

4 Superdrug Cocoa Butter & Vanilla Body Lotion – a really nice body lotion that smells lovely and moisturises my skin nicely. Good quality, good price. Repurchase? Yes!

5 Olay Total Effects Radiance Enhancing Cream Wash – an amazing face wash! It exfoliates gently – but at the same time it’s creamy. It’s brilliant for dry skin! Too bad this product has been dicontinued.

6 L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Conditioner – one of the best conditioners out there, second only to Herbal Essences’ Classics conditioners. Repurchase? Yes! (In case you’re wondering what happened to the shampoo – as soon as I’ve used up a conditioner, my husband will finish the matching shampoo.)

7 Palmolive Oriental Beauty Sophisticated – a really nice shower gel, refreshing and not too harsh on dry skin. And it smells like a mix of tea and flowers. Nice! The product has been discontinued, so I can’t repurchase it. If it were still available, I’d buy it again.

8 L’Eau Par Kenzo Ice Pour Femme (50ml) – a fresh summer fragrance (which I’ll review properly in a few days). This one was a limited edition from a few years ago. But I wouldn’t repurchase it if it were still available – because it no longer tickles my fancy.

9 Kirstie Allsopp Lansdowne Rose Shower Gel – a gentle and pleasant rose-scented shower gel. Perfect in combination with Flower Pharm’s Wild Rose body butter. If it weren’t discontinued, I’d probably buy it again.

10 Yung Haircare Deep Conditioner – this one’s a cheap product from a German drugstore. I bought it years ago (!) but left it untouched until a few months ago. It’s an okayish deep conditioner, nothing special. I wouldn’t repurchase it.

11 Black eyeliner pencil – not sure which brand this is, but I liked this eyeliner pencil. Good quality. Comparable to Essence.

12 Superdrug Animal Mad Lip Balm – I used up one of these last month – and I’ve now used up another one. This lip balm was part of a limited edition set from last autumn so I can’t repurchase it.

13 Thierry Mugler Alien EDP sample – I love Thierry Mugler’s Alien. I’ve got a full size Alien EDP, but whenever there’s an Alien sample in a glossy mag, I’ll use it! Awesome stuff!

14 Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum – I have no idea how old the bottle was when I finally opened it. I used this serum a few years ago when it was introduced. But I never opened the second bottle – until a few months ago. I’ve now been using this serum on and off – and I actually still like it a lot. I’ll give the current version of the product a try and then I’ll report back. 🙂

15 Naturtint Shampoo & Naturtint Nutrideep Multiplier Protective Cream samples – I didn’t like these products. I’d probably use the shampoo if nothing else was available. But I wouldn’t use the protective cream again if you paid me. My last post explains it all…

16 NSPA Raspberry Body Butter – a rich body butter with the pleasant scent of juicy raspberries. I think this body butter smells a lot more natural than some of the considerably more expensive raspberry-scented body butters out there. And it’s only £3. Repurchase? Most likely – as soon as I crave raspberries again.

So this is what I emptied / used up in May 2016. I really enjoyed writing this post – so I’ll definitely make monthly empties a permanent feature. 🙂 Oh, and I’m really proud of myself for using up an eyeliner pencil before losing it. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by! I hope June 2016 will be an awesome month for all of us.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo & Conditioner

Hi there! As I’m using different shampoos and conditioners all the time, I sometimes forget old favourites – like L’Oréal’s Elvive Colour Protect Shampoo and Conditioner. However, I’ve now bought these two products again – and I remembered why I always loved them so much.

The shampoo is great. It smells pleasant and it cleanses my hair and my scalp nicely. The conditioner is one of the best I’ve ever used – second only to Herbal Essences’ Classics conditioners. What I love about the conditioner is that it detangles my hair nicely and that it doesn’t weigh my hair down – just the way I like it. 🙂

I also noticed that these two products really help maintain the intensity of my hair colour after I’ve dyed my hair. Normally the colour bleeds quite a bit for a few washes after I’ve dyed my hair – but these two products made a huge difference! Well done, L’Oréal!

I would definitely recommend L’Oréal’s Elvive Colour Protect Shampoo and Conditioner to anyone with coloured hair. If you want to hold on to your hair colour for as long as possible, you really should try these two products!

The shampoo and the conditioner are available as 250ml for £2.99 and 400ml for £3.99. This is really good value. However, there’s usually at least one supermarket or drugstore chain that runs a half price or BOGOF promotion on the big bottles. So keep your eyes peeled for the best offer! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

L’Oréal Elvital Color-Vive Deep Conditioner

Hi there! Today’s post is about the L’Oréal Elvital Color Vive Deep Conditioner I found at Family Bargains a while ago.

I love trying products from other countries. But I always check which country a product is from. This deep conditioner is from Denmark. As Denmark adheres to the same regulations for health and beauty products as the other EU countries, I was happy to try this product.

So, how’s the product? I think this is an amazing deep conditioner. It detangles my hair easily without weighing it down. And it makes my hair feel incredibly soft and silky. Love it!

Here’s the best thing: This deep conditioner is meant to be left on for 1 minute only before it has to be rinsed out. I leave it on for 3 to 4 minutes while I brush my teeth. But it’s good you don’t have to leave it on for half an hour or so.

I would definitely recommend L’Oréal’s Elvital Color Vive Deep Conditioner – not just because I paid 99p only – but because it’s a great product!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde